Climate and average weather in Les Sables-d'Olonne

In Les Sables-d'Olonne, the summers are mild, fairly dry, and mostly clear and the winters are cool, breezy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Les Sables-d'Olonne typically varies from 6°C to 22°C, and is rarely below 1°C or above 26°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Les Sables-d'Olonne for warm-weather activities is from late May to late September.

Hottest
Aug
22°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Nov
106 mm
Driest
Jul
33 mm
Rain / yr
783 mm
124 wet days
Daylight
8.4–15.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
7 m
46.5°N
Clearest
Jul
47% cloud

Les Sables-d'Olonne weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Les Sables-d'Olonne, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.7 months, from June 6 to September 26, with daily high temperatures above 19°C. The hottest month of the year in Les Sables-d'Olonne is August, with an average high of 22°C and low of 17°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 26 to March 16, with daily high temperatures below 12°C. The coldest month of the year in Les Sables-d'Olonne is January, with an average low of 6°C and high of 10°C.

Days typically run about 4°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan106
Feb106
Mar127
Apr149
May1712
Jun2015
Jul2117
Aug2217
Sep2015
Oct1713
Nov1310
Dec107

Average hourly temperature in Les Sables-d'Olonne

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on August afternoons, near 22°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Les Sables-d'Olonne weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan10° / 9113.48.81.8
Feb10° / 6410.5102.0
Mar12° / 5710.711.62.9
Apr14° / 529.913.33.9
May17° / 12°549.914.85.3
Jun20° / 15°397.815.56.5
Jul21° / 17°336.615.27.3
Aug22° / 17°406.8147.3
Sep20° / 15°568.212.46.6
Oct17° / 13°9312.710.74.9
Nov13° / 10°10613.99.23.2
Dec10° / 10014.18.42.2

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Les Sables-d'Olonne gets about 783 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.2 months, from around Sep 28 to Mar 5, peaking in November at about 48% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 22.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 106 mm over about 14 wet days; July is the driest, with 33 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 8 · 48%Jul 22 · 19%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4313
Feb3811
Mar3311
Apr3310
May3210
Jun278
Jul217
Aug217
Sep288
Oct4113
Nov4614
Dec4514

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Les Sables-d'Olonne collects about 783 mm of rain across 124 wet days — roughly 65 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 106 mm, while July is the driest at just 33 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 38% of the year’s total.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec91645752543933405693106100
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan9113
Feb6411
Mar5711
Apr5210
May5410
Jun398
Jul337
Aug407
Sep568
Oct9313
Nov10614
Dec10014

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Les Sables-d'Olonne, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 15 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around October 1. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 65% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 2 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around March 30. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 70% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 19 · 66%Dec 26 · 27%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3169
Feb4060
Mar4258
Apr4753
May4654
Jun5446
Jul6535
Aug6337
Sep5545
Oct4258
Nov3565
Dec3070

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 12, brings about 15 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 7 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.88:535:39
Feb10.08:216:22
Mar11.67:297:04
Apr13.36:287:47
May14.85:408:27
Jun15.55:198:55
Jul15.25:348:51
Aug14.06:118:12
Sep12.46:527:11
Oct10.77:336:12
Nov9.28:185:27
Dec8.48:515:15

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Les Sables-d'Olonne averages about 9 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 14 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.6 months, from around May 16 to Oct 2. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 13 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 6 sunny days — about 57% fewer than the July peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightJul 1914 daysDec 275 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan6Gloomy
Feb7Gloomy
Mar8Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May9Mixed
Jun10Mixed
Jul13Mixed
Aug13Mixed
Sep11Mixed
Oct8Gloomy
Nov6Gloomy
Dec6Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Les Sables-d'Olonne, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around June 9 to October 4. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 41% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 5 to June 8, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 19 · 100%Aug 2 · 54%humiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr98200
May801820
Jun4639141
Jul2045314
Aug1742337
Sep4337191
Oct623250
Nov93700
Dec100000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Les Sables-d'Olonne is typically light breeze, near 19 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Oct 16 to Apr 8. The windiest month is December, averaging about 22 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 9 to Oct 15, with August the calmest month at about 16 km/h.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyDec 29 · 23 km/hAug 3 · 16 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan22breezy
Feb21breezy
Mar20light breeze
Apr19light breeze
May18light breeze
Jun17light breeze
Jul17light breeze
Aug16light breeze
Sep17light breeze
Oct19light breeze
Nov21breezy
Dec22breezy

Best time to visit Les Sables-d'Olonne

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Les Sables-d'Olonne throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late September, Les Sables-d'Olonne is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Les Sables-d'Olonne for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 22 · 7.4

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan1.9poor
Feb2.0poor
Mar2.9poor
Apr3.9fair
May5.3fair
Jun6.5good
Jul7.3good
Aug7.3good
Sep6.6good
Oct4.9fair
Nov3.2poor
Dec2.2poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Les Sables-d'Olonne for hot-weather activities is from early July to early September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 30 · 5.0

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Les Sables-d'Olonne, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around August (highs near 22°C), the essentials are sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 10°C), pack a warm layer, rain gear and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Les Sables-d'Olonne sees daytime highs around 22°C and nights near 17°C. Worth packing: sun protection. About 7 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Les Sables-d'Olonne

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 15 km away) is warmest in August at about 20°C and coldest in February near 10°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan11Bracing
Feb10Bracing
Mar10Bracing
Apr12Bracing
May15Bracing
Jun17Cool
Jul19Cool
Aug20Cool
Sep19Cool
Oct17Cool
Nov15Bracing
Dec12Bracing

UV index (midday) in Les Sables-d'Olonne by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Les Sables-d'Olonne peaks around July 20 at about 7 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 20UV 7Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr6High
May6High
Jun7High
Jul7Very high
Aug7Very high
Sep5Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Les Sables-d'Olonne

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 4 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar3.50
Apr60
May71
Jun7.53.5
Jul84
Aug73.5
Sep50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free day

Les Sables-d'Olonne is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan960
Feb960
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec970

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Les Sables-d'Olonne banks about 1,381 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,0001,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar1
Apr43
May138
Jun219
Jul282
Aug290
Sep224
Oct147
Nov38
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Les Sables-d'Olonne receives about 3.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.0 and 6.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 21 to Sep 21. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.1 kWh/m² — roughly 83% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 266.4 kWhDec 231.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.3Dim
Feb2.2Moderate
Mar3.5Moderate
Apr5.0Bright
May5.9Bright
Jun6.3Intense
Jul6.3Intense
Aug5.5Bright
Sep4.2Bright
Oct2.5Moderate
Nov1.5Dim
Dec1.1Dim

Where is Les Sables-d'Olonne?

Les Sables-d'Olonne sits at 46.5°N, 1.8°W, 7 m above sea level, in France. The nearest listed city is La Roche-sur-Yon, 33 km away.

Topography around Les Sables-d'Olonne

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Les Sables-d'Olonne.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Les Sables-d'Olonne has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 31 m around an average of 8 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 94 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 339 m.

The land around Les Sables-d'Olonne is covered by artificial surfaces (40%) and water (39%) within 3 km, water (57%) within 16 km, and water (43%), cropland (25%) and grassland (20%) within 80 km.

3 km
31 m
16 km
94 m
80 km
339 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: La Roche-sur-Yon 33 km · Challans 39 km · La Rochelle 61 km · Les Herbiers 72 km · Fontenay-le-Comte 75 km · Bouguenais 77 km · Vertou 78 km · Rezé 79 km

France travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 77% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$48,986
2025
Happiness
6.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.3
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
5.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 539
Religion
Roman Catholic 47%none 33%Muslim 4%Protestant 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Les Sables-d'Olonne (46.4969°, -1.7847°, elevation 7 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).